Tag: Angus & Robertson

The snake raised its head three feet from where I stood, turning the roosters on the spit above the fire.

Brown snake. Deadly.

I froze.

A boy can run faster than a snake can slither. A brown snake can strike faster than a boy can move.

Birrung had taught me that snakes sleep in the winter. This one must have just woken up. Hungry. Ready to bite.

Sydney Town, October 1791

The snake raised its head three feet from where I stood, turning the roosters on the spit above the fire.

Brown snake. Deadly.

I froze.

A boy can run faster than a snake can slither. A brown snake can strike faster than a boy can move.

Birrung had taught me that snakes sleep in the winter. This one must have just woken up. Hungry. Ready to bite.

It’s early days for Sydney Town. Supplies are still short and the townspeople are still adjusting to life in Australia. Barney Bean is excited by the possibilities offered by the new colony but to take advantage of them, he needs money. An unexpected opportunity presents itself and he signs on as crew on one of the Third Fleet vessels, the Brittania. He is ready to make his fortune. Nothing could have prepared him for the realities of living at sea, hunting whales. He calls on everything he has learned from his friends, Elsie and Birrung, and from his mother so he can survive his three year contract. Author notes include information about the Third Fleet, about whaling and its role in the survival of the fledgling colony.

Barney and the Secret of the Whales is a second title in a new series from Jackie French about the very early days of Sydney Town. Readers first met Barney in ‘Birrung the Secret Friend’. The idea of ‘secrets’ is connected to stories that are untold, or less told and which form an integral part in the development of the colony. Barney has held his secret about whaling for a long time and only now has he decided to tell his story. Barney is bright and passionate and despite a tough start to his life, is determined to achieve independence and to look after his friend, Elsie. Barney and the Secret of the Whales offers a glimpse of childhood circa 1791 – it was a very different experience to contemporary childhood. Barney’s connection with the absent Birrung gives him a connection to Australia that few of the early residents shared. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

Shooting stars, kisses, grenades and the lumbering tanks. And the shrieking skies and the shaking comrades: ‘Up and over, lads!’
And I know it is time again to go into madness.

Even though he s only seventeen, Maurice Roche is determined to enlist, to follow his older brothers off to war and do his bit. It will be an adventure, an opportunity to see the world . Against his parent’s wishes, he signs up, leaving behind his parents, his younger siblings, his proud aunts and a girl, Rosie, who he is sure will wait for him. But war is not the adventure Maurice imagined. At Gallipoli and, later, on the Western Front he faces unimaginable horrors. It is only the mates fighting at his side, an occasional opportunity to sketch and draw, and his love for Rosie, that keep him going.

A century later, Oliver Day isn’t all that interested in his great-uncle Maurice, who he never met. But his great-grandmother, Dorothea, wants the world to know about her big brother, who died before she was born. It is especially important to her that Oliver hear Maurice’s story.

Eventual Poppy Day is an emotional tale of war and its impacts both on those who fight and those who are left behind, often across generations. The alternating stories of Maurice and Oliver are supplemented with scenes, letters and diary entries from other characters, to give a broad perspective of their emotions and motives. As the novel progresses, readers have an opportunity to connect deeply with the family.

I waited in the line outside the storehouse. Only two convicts were before me – big fellows with tattoos on their arms and dirty bare feet – waiting for their rations too. My tummy was so empty it couldn’t even gurgle.

There was cheese in that storehouse.

I wanted that cheese so bad I could already feel the maggots wriggling against my tongue. Ma used to say that maggots meant food was going bad, but when your tummy is empty, maggots are just extra food. I’d been eating maggots with my cheese for the two years we’d been here in New South Wales, and hadn’t even got a tummy ache. Not from the maggots anyways, Hunger ached worse than bad food.

Sydney Cove, December 1789

I waited in the line outside the storehouse. Only two convicts were before me – big fellows with tattoos on their arms and dirty bare feet – waiting for their rations too. My tummy was so empty it couldn’t even gurgle.

There was cheese in that storehouse.

I wanted that cheese so bad I could already feel the maggots wriggling against my tongue. Ma used to say that maggots meant food was going bad, but when your tummy is empty, maggots are just extra food. I’d been eating maggots with my cheese for the two years we’d been here in New South Wales, and hadn’t even got a tummy ache. Not from the maggots anyways, Hunger ached worse than bad food.

Barney is a young boy eking out an existence in the first days of Sydney’s settlement. His mother is dead and he’s caring for a girl he found in the days after his mother’s death. Sydney is a tough place and he’s constantly on his guard. Which is why, when he meets Birrung, Richard Johnson and his family, he is slow to trust. But gradually he settles into his new life, working hard and trying to decipher the mysteries around Birrung’s presence in the family. Mark Wilson’s fine drawings at the head of each chapter help to showcase aspects of the fledgling colony. Birrung the Secret Friend is the first in a new series from Jackie French.

Truth, it is said, is stranger than fiction and it’s difficult to look back at the early days of white settlement in Australia and understand some of the peculiarities and beliefs. Told from the perspective of a young illiterate boy, Birrung the Secret Friend shows that education doesn’t guarantee any common sense. French’s Sydney is a tough place, full of thieves and those who cling to the ways of England. But for those who embrace the opportunities offered in Australia, who are prepared to work hard, there is much to be gained. Birrung the Secret Friend also paints a picture of relationships between settlers and ‘Indians’ (as Barney calls them). There is a sadness for what could have been a very different relationship between the two populations, and a theory for why this couldn’t be. A very readable story of childhood friendships in a long-ago Sydney. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

Who am I? Only a daughter?
A Capulet, wed to my father’s choice?
No! I am the girl who chose her destiny,
whose love outlasts the sun.
I am Juliet.

The story is not you – Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers who fall in love in spite of their families being sworn enemies, but are tragically destined not to be together in this life. But though we know the story, do we really know who these people are? In I am Juliet Jackie French tells the story as it hasn’t been told before, allowing the reader to get to know Juliet as a person, as a strong girl who questions and challenges her destiny.

In the course of just a few days, Juliet grows and changes, becoming stronger and more likeable. At the same time, readers are given a better understanding of the whole story – the times in which it is set and the societal structures which would have led to such a circumstance. The story is chiefly told from Juliet’s perspective, but is bookended by chapters from the perspective of Rob, a boy actor given the role of Juliet to play in Shakespeare’s company. This allows readers both to see how his attitude is shaped by getting to know the character, as well as some idea of the workings of theatre at the time. Back of book notes give further insights.

Readers need have no knowledge of the play to engage with the novel, but it would act as an excellent complement to studies of the play, giving the characters, especially Juliet, a more human perspective.

I may not have lost my legs, she thought, but I’ve lost those I love forever. The war had savaged Mum, and Mrs Mack, and every woman in the valley. The war was over but the pain was still there, for her and the families left behind, not just for the men who had been maimed.

We’re all bits that the war didn’t take, Flinty thought, gazing at the stranger’s back. But those left behind had a right to know more about the beast who’d chewed their lives and spat the remnants out.

It is 1919, and in the Snowy Mountains Flinty McAlpine is trying to hold her family together – what is left of her family, at least, since the Great War tore it apart. One of her brothers was killed in the war, and another is so scarred that he seems unable to stay at home. Her mother died, Flinty suspects of a broken heart, and her father too passed away, after contracting influenza brought home by returning troops. Flinty may be only 17, but she is now responsible for her two younger siblings and for the running of the farm and the paying of the bills.

When Flinty meets a stranger in a wheelchair, she presumes he is another returned soldier – and he is – but somehow he is not from the Great War, but from a war far in her future, the Vietnam War. Just like Flinty’s brother, and Sandy, the man she loves, Nicholas is scarred by his war time experiences. They may be from different times, but somehow Flinty and Nicholas can see and hear each other, and it may be that they can help each other to heal.

The Girl from Snowy River is a dramatic, heart warming story of survival. Flinty is faced with many challenges – the loss of her parents and brother, her strained relationship with Sandy, the financial stress of trying to keep hold of the family farm, and being a girl in a man’s world – but she also faces unexpected physical challenges, too.

With reference and links to several famous Australian bush poems, The Girl from Snowy River is a wonderful celebration of the Snowy Mountain region as well as an exploration of the history of the time and issues of the impact of war, the role of women, family relationships and more.

From that first Anzac Day to commemorations in the years that followed, and through to the ceremonies of today, and even beyond, this book traces the growth of the Anzac legend and the development of the day

Each year on 25 April, the nation stops to remember.
This is the history of that day.

On April 25 1915 8000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers waded ashore on a Turkish beach, beginning a campaign which was ultimately unsuccessful in terms of the war, but which began a legend which has united Australians for almost 100 years. From that first Anzac Day to commemorations in the years that followed, and through to the ceremonies of today, and even beyond, this book traces the growth of the Anzac legend and the development of the day which now serves to remember not just the men who fought at Gallipoli, but all the men and women who have served the country in war, and all who have been affected by war.

French handles the topic with a mix of straight fact, useful reminders about the importance of the day and raising of issues along the way. Because the book spans almost 100 years of history, it touches on many issues, including the contribution of Aboriginal soldiers, Vietnam War protests, conscription, and more. Some of these are issues which young readers may be unfamiliar, which offers opportunity both for education and for discussion.

Illustrations, by Mark Wilson, use a variety of techniques, including pencil, ink and acrylic on canvas and on paper, and using in places images of historical documents, to reflect the varying time periods. Wilson includes scenes of war and battle, as well as of civilian faces and places, to give a broad image of Australia’s varied engagement in war. In doing so he gives an honest insight into a wide spectrum of issues and considerations, again giving food for thought and discussion.

This is a useful teaching tool, but also deserves a place in home libraries, helping children to understand the significance of Anzac Day.

A Day to Remember, by Jac kie French, illustrated by Mark Wilson
Angus & Robertson, 2012

ISBN 9780732293604&

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

How many adventures can one little dog have? Lots, especially if that dog is Selby the talking dog, back in this the sixteenth Selby book. This time Selby falls out of a plane, almost gets eaten by a savage Shark Man on death Island, and has to stop a runaway train.

I want to warn you that something terrible happens, and you’ll see when you get to the end. I’m not dead or anything, so don’t worry, but after all these years and so many close calls about keeping it a secret that I know ho to talk –
I better not tell you any more or I’ll spoil it.

How many adventures can one little dog have? Lots, especially if that dog is Selby the talking dog, back in this the sixteenth Selby book. This time Selby falls out of a plane, almost gets eaten by a savage Shark Man on death Island, and has to stop a runaway train. But, worst of all, he is being pursued by the Evil Genius Morrie Artie, who is desperately combing Australia to prove that the talking dog really exists – and to use him in all sorts of ways. Is Selby’s secret about to be revealed to the world?

Selby Sprung offers all the fun and adventure that young readers have come to expect from the series, with humorous adventures, twists and turns and all round silliness. Illustrations (by Allan Stomann) scattered throughout the book add visual appeal, and some chapters are written in diary format by Selby himself.

As with previous titles, this one stands alone, but will encourage readers new to the series to seek the others out.

Nanberry is fascinated when the white men arrive in Tumbalong (now known as Darling Harbour) in extraordinary boats, but incredulous at their inability to survive and to respect the land. But a year after their arrival, Nanberry’s whole family is struck down by a mysterious illness and Nanberry, fighting for his life, is taken in by the new colony’s doctor.

Nanberry had expected great warriors to come from such extraordinary canoes. But instead they had been poor strange creatures, small and hunched over, with pale, pinched faces.

The white ghosts chopped down trees. They built big huts. They lived in them all year, until they stank. Their women didn’t know how to fish and when they gathered oysters they threw away the flesh and kept only the shells.

Nanberry is fascinated when the white men arrive in Tumbalong (now known as Darling Harbour) in extraordinary boats, but incredulous at their inability to survive and to respect the land. But a year after their arrival, Nanberry’s whole family is struck down by a mysterious illness and Nanberry, fighting for his life, is taken in by the new colony’s doctor. Soon he is Nanberry White, the adopted son of Surgeon White. He is used as an interpreter and learns white men ways, but feels torn between his new life and the life and family he has loss.

Later Nanberry has a new brother – a white brother, born to the surgeon and his housekeeper. The story follows both brothers as they grow and learn in the fledgling colony.

Nanberry: Black Brother White is based on the true story of Nanberry, one of the first of the Eora people to live with the English settlers following colonisation. Told from differing third person viewpoints – chiefly that of Nanberry, but also the perspectives of the Surgeon, his two housekeepers and his younger adoptive brother Andrew – the book offers an insight into the times, exploring the impact of white settlement on the Aboriginal people, the difficulties faced by the settlers, and the growth of the colony. Mainly though it is Nanberry’s story based wherever possible on historical records, but fictionalised to make Nanberry an authentic character with whom readers can connect.

It’s Christmas Eve. Mothball the wombat has no idea what Christmas is, or why there are strange, annoying dangly things hanging on the tree but she does know the smell of carrots, her favourite food. When she finds strange creatures are eating her carrots, she fights a battle of wills. Soon, though, her quest for carrots and a comfortable place to sleep sees her taking an unexpected sleigh ride around the world…

Strange creatures are eating my carrots!

It’s Christmas Eve. Mothball the wombat has no idea what Christmas is, or why there are strange, annoying dangly things hanging on the tree but she does know the smell of carrots, her favourite food. When she finds strange creatures are eating her carrots, she fights a battle of wills. Soon, though, her quest for carrots and a comfortable place to sleep sees her taking an unexpected sleigh ride around the world.

Christmas Wombat is a wonderfully quirky Christmas picture book starring Mothball, the wombat who first starred in Diary of a Wombat. Text is funny and simple, from Mothball’s point of view and readers left to make their connections about what is happening. The reindeer (the aforementioned strange creatures) are delightful, but of course Mothball is the star of this book – and readers will love her.

Leo’s staying this weekend. Mum has ordered me to clean my room. I don’t see why I have to. Mum told Samantha that she has to help me. I don’t want her to. My head is thumping and she’s humming. I grit my teeth. ‘Stop humming.’ She doesn’t. I ignore her.

In I am Jack Jack had to confront a bully. In Super Jack he dealt with the changes force on him when his family blends with that of his new stepdad. Now, in Always Jack Jack is back – and, as always, his life is complicated. His family might be lots of fun, and very supportive, but Nanna is getting older and wobblier, his stepfather Rob needs to spend more time with his own son, Leo, and Rob and Mum’s wedding seems to be the main topic of conversation. Then Mum comes home with news that is so bad all those other things seem trivial. Jack will need all off his courage to survive this one.

Always Jack is a wonderful complement to the earlier two books about young Jack and his slightly crazy, very loving family. Jack is a delightful first person narrator who is honest, funny and full of life. We experience wonderful highs and terrible lows with him, knowing that somehow, his strength and the support of the wonderful people around him, will get him through.

There are a lot of issues explored in this little offering – blended families, the impact of cancer, friendship, the migrant experience, war, ageing and more – but it works because author Susanne Gervay weaves the story tightly, carrying the reader along on Jack’s journey.

Wonderful stuff.

Always Jack, by Susanne Gervay
Angus & Robertson, 2010
ISBN This book is available in good bookstores, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.